


Swinging

by mercu



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, Kid!Fic, derek and stiles met as kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-15
Updated: 2014-01-15
Packaged: 2018-01-08 19:31:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1136520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercu/pseuds/mercu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His mother brings him to the big playground for the first time when he is four years old. Stiles runs and jumps and laughs. Claudia runs and jumps and laughs with him and it’s one of the best days of his life. After that, they come as often as possible. Sometimes, when he has the time, his father joins them. Those are the good days.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swinging

His mother brings him to the big playground for the first time when he is four years old. Stiles runs and jumps and laughs. Claudia runs and jumps and laughs with him and it’s one of the best days of his life. After that, they come as often as possible. Sometimes, when he has the time, his father joins them. Those are the good days.

In time, Stiles comes to love swings the most. There’s something exhilarating about the rush of air as he swings back and forth.

One day, when it’s just him and his mother, the swings are occupied by a group of three kids. A dark haired boy a few years older than him pushes a girl roughly Stiles’s age as she swings back and forth, and they are both laughing. Another girl, looking the oldest of the three, is slowly rocking on the other swing, watching the duo with a small smile. Stiles stares at them for the longest time, but it doesn’t look like either of the girls is getting off, so eventually he occupies himself with other things.

When they finally leave, he rushes to the swings so fast he almost trips four times on the short distance.

-

It happens again a few weeks later, and then again. On the third time, Stiles gathers his courage and approaches the trio. “You’re not swinging right.” He accuses the girl who’s just rocking back and forth. She blinks at him and bursts out laughing. “Okay, little guy.” She replies when the laughter finally subsides. She’s still laughing. “Wanna show me how it’s done?” She asks and winks. Stiles nods bravely and clambers onto the seat when she stands up and moves aside. By himself, he can’t make the swing go very high, but he tries his hardest.

At this point, Claudia joins them and politely asks the girl if Stiles is causing any trouble. The girl shakes her head, mirth dancing in her eyes. “No, on the contrary. He’s teaching me how to properly use the swing, you see.” Stiles doesn’t know what ‘contrary’ or ‘properly’ means, but he still puffs out his chest – or tries to; it’s hard to do so while swinging – and smiles proudly. “I’m Laura.” The girl introduces herself and extends a hand to Stiles’s mom. “And these two runts are Derek and Cora, my siblings.” She gestures at the two other children. Derek smiles shyly and Cora waves. Claudia takes the preoffered hand. “Claudia. It’s nice to meet you.” After that they start a conversation that Stiles quickly looses an interest in. Instead, he concentrates on swinging higher and higher, trying to beat Cora. He can barely get half as high, though. “It’s not okay.” He finally complains. “You have help.” Cora laughs at him. “Derek, stop!” She commands, and her brother steps away obediently. To Stiles’s dismay, even without help she barely drops lower. She laughs again and sticks her tongue out.

“You want me to push you?” Comes a voice from somewhere behind him and Stiles nearly jumps out of the swing. He didn’t notice Derek moving. He chews his lips for a few minutes. Letting Derek push him would be admitting defeat – but he really wants to try going higher. “Okay,” he finally concedes. A pair of warm hands touches his back and pushes, lightly at first, and then harder and harder and Stiles goes higher and higher. He starts laughing, jolting his mother out of the conversation with Laura. Claudia gasps and for a fleeting moment, it looks like she’s about to run over to his side, but Stiles is holding on and he’s still laughing and finally she just smiles wistfully and returns her attention to Laura.

It’s a good day for Stiles.

The next time he comes to the playground to find them occupying the swings, Laura stands up as soon as he’s in her line of sight. It becomes a habit after that. The siblings don’t come around often, but the rare days when they do are always fun.

Stiles likes Derek best. Mostly because the times Derek pushes him are the only times he can go higher than Cora. As for the girls, Laura is nice enough, but from his childish perspective, she’s old. She doesn’t have much interest in chatting up a hyperactive kid, which is just fine, because what she talks about bores him. That, and he doesn’t really understand a lot of it. Cora is more fun, but she’s very competitive and she ALWAYS makes fun of him, which irks him a bit.

-

Then one day his mom gets sick and they can’t go to the big playground anymore because it’s too far. They move to a smaller one with no swings, but locater closer to their house. Stiles doesn’t mind. He makes new friends. He grows particularily fond of a goofy kid with a huge smile and a shaggy mop of brown hair. They have so much fun together Stiles quickly forgets about Cora, Laura, Derek and the swings.

-

Years later, Derek’s pictures are all over the local news. Stiles doesn’t recognize him as the kid who used to push him on the swing.


End file.
